


Child, Free

by EvilMuffins



Category: Dangan Ronpa, New Dangan Ronpa V3: Everyone's New Semester of Killing
Genre: F/F, Fix-It, Magic, Post-Canon, Rituals
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-11-07
Updated: 2020-11-07
Packaged: 2021-03-09 04:34:30
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,859
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27018880
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/EvilMuffins/pseuds/EvilMuffins
Summary: But then again, she was still Himiko Yumeno, not anyone else in particular, and sometimes that was all you needed when things really came down to it.---Himiko conducts a ritual.
Relationships: Chabashira Tenko/Yumeno Himiko
Comments: 9
Kudos: 56
Collections: Shipoween 2020 - The Halloween Ship Exchange!





	Child, Free

**Author's Note:**

  * For [GaleWrites](https://archiveofourown.org/users/GaleWrites/gifts).



_Magic isn't real._

Himiko stared at her reflection looking back at her in the bathroom mirror, repeating the phrase to herself for the second time that day. It had become her ritual now, morning and night.

Somehow, it was still hard to fully convince herself of this, especially considering the fact that her hair had grown longer once again. It always seemed to sneak up on her right when she wasn't looking, just like the right words to all the best magic spells. Giving it a lazy twirl, Himiko mused that she might look just like Maki soon. Just as quickly, she splashed some water on to her face, banishing the thought. There was no way that she could ever look like Maki, not without a real and true magic spell adding a few inches to her height. But then again, she was still Himiko Yumeno, not anyone else in particular, and sometimes that was all you needed when things really came down to it.

Himiko sighed. Shuuichi would probably be wanting the bathroom right about then, even if he was still too shy to ask if she were nearly done yet.

It would seem that there had been a downside to dismantling the entire killing game, after all- a distinct lack of any prize money although they had _clearly_ won. Alongside Maki and Shuuichi, Himiko had taken up a modest apartment on an obscure side of town, where they had been left alone for the most part, save for occasional boxes of DanganRonpa merch showing up unexpectedly on their doorstep now and again. Maki had said that it seemed like something of a tribute. Angie would have said as much too, Himiko thought ruefully as she slipped into her bathrobe.

What would Tenko have said?

A pang resounded in her heart at the very thought of her, just as it always did.

“Yumeno-san?” A soft voice sounded through the door. “Is everything alright in there?”

“Nyeh...” Himiko grumbled opening up the door and immediately cringing as the cooler air from out in the hall mingled with her precious steam. “Did you think I drown in the shower or something? I was recharging my MP, that's all.”

Shuuichi smiled sympathetically. He had never had a full MP gauge a day in his life to begin with. A slime had more stamina, and so did Himiko. Not that she was proud of handling her new life better than he was... or maybe she was, just a little.

“Well good night, then,” Shuuichi said as Himiko passed by, handing him a soggy towel as she headed toward her room.

Himiko flopped down onto the unmade bed. It wasn't as comfortable as the one in her dorm room on the DanganRonpa set, but that was TV money for you.

Closing her eyes, Himiko willed her mind to go blank.

_At last,_

_at last,_

_at long last_

“Nn!” Himiko clenched her teeth, burrowing into the covers.

When was the last time she had been able to sleep soundly without hearing it slinking around in her head, that horrific song?

Her memories from before volunteering herself for the killing game were hazy at best, but she did remember her old bed being her solace, an island of respite and comfort amid a sea of pain. Now, she arose early each morning just to escape the blankets that now seemed to strangle her.

Tip-toeing back out into the hall, Himiko was relieved to find Maki’s door still tightly shut. Back to back tutoring sessions with the children over at the local orphanage often left her exhausted and prone to turning in early, or so she claimed. Himiko knew that she was shut up puzzling out the children’s math homework so as to better help them the next day.

Hearing the rush of water through the bathroom door, Himiko was assured that she had some time before Shuuichi emerged. Funny that he should worry about how long Himiko spent in there. She snorted to herself.

Generally speaking, Himiko hadn’t lifted anything heavier than a milk carton in the past week. Even so, she summoned up her strength. Rolling up the over-sized sleeves of her fluffy bath-robe in determination, Himiko pushed the coffee table up against the far wall, leaving an expanse of beige carpet save for four indents left in the shape of table legs.

_Magic isn't real._

So then it wouldn’t matter if there were only one person involved in performing the ritual. Hastily, Himiko trotted into the kitchen, gathering up a handful of birthday candles from the cabinet drawer. Only realizing upon her return to the living area that she would need something to prop them up in, in order to keep them upright, Himiko swiped one of Maki’s potted flowers off the windowsill. …Or maybe it belonged to Shuuichi. All Himiko knew for sure was that she hadn’t watered the thing so much as once, despite its vibrant blooms.

Wedging the candle down into the dirt, Himiko struck a match, lighting it.

“Happy birthday,” she whispered to no one in particular, sitting the pot a few feet away from her on the floor, before crouching down and tucking in her head.

It wouldn’t work, and Himiko wasn’t about to fool herself a second time. Not after her selfish wish to speak with Angie again had cost her a future with Tenko as well. But she needed _something._ Closure, maybe? Thinking about it was too much work.

Even if she were living in some alternate universe where magic could truly happen, the ritual was all wrong. Even so, if Tenko’s spirit were to take possession of her body, that would be fine. No matter what Kokichi had told her at the trial, Tenko still deserved to _live,_ every bit as much as Himiko did.

_Tenko…_

_I’m sorry that I didn’t realise sooner… That you… that I…_

Softly, Himiko began to sing, shivering at the sudden chill in the air. She was thankful that she couldn't see from her current position how the tiny candles cast shadows along the wall.

“ _At last, at last, at long last…”_

* * *

“Nyeh…” Himiko rolled over in bed, about to burrow into the covers in an attempt to escape the sunlight peeking in through the bedroom window. For the first time in months, sleep had embraced her like an old friend. Warm and comforting, as if there were a pair of strong arms around her.

“Tenko…?”

It was after a moment of lying there did the fog of sleep lift, and Himiko remembered what she done the previous night. Gingerly, she prodded one of her cheeks. She certainly didn’t _feel_ very much like hopping up out of bed to practice some neo-aikido right on the carpet, so it was probably safe to assume that the spirit of Tenko Chabashira hadn’t possessed her after all.

 _Would_ a Tenko that had survived the killing game even have enjoyed martial arts at all? Just as Himiko’s great love of all things magic had been a complete fabrication at the hands of Tsumugi Shirogane, perhaps Tenko’s special talent had been as well.

As Himiko mused, a gentle knock came at her bedroom door.

“Himiko, can I come in?”

“Sure, I guess…” Himiko wriggled herself into sitting upright.

I was very rare for either of her roommates to bother her while her door was closed, both Maki and Shuuichi understanding the need for personal space and time spent alone. So whatever it was that he needed must have been important.

Shuuichi opened the door just widely enough to stick his head inside, eyebrows furrowed with worry. “Hey, um… Maki isn’t feeling too well this morning.”

“She alright?” Himiko asked quietly, alarmed. She had already lost the only girl she had ever loved, losing another friend would be too much, too cruel after they had survived so much.

“It’s just a cold.” Shuuichi smiled reassuringly. “She’s been working herself too hard lately… But do you think that you could run to the store and pick up some medicine? I’d do it myself, but I’m so close to a lead…”

Himiko nodded solemnly.

_Team DanganRonpa._

Shuuichi had sworn to use whatever skills he could remember during his time as a detective in order to track down whatever was left of them following the fall of the prison school set.

After tugging on some jeans and buttoning up a hooded denim jacket over her pajama top, Himiko headed out. The drug store wasn’t too far and hopefully in the next twenty minutes no one would recognize her from TV.

Somehow, however, the walk seemed to drag on longer than usual, each leaf crunching underneath her feet as she traveled along the sidewalk counting down the seconds.

_1…_

_2…_

_3…_

“Hmph!” Himiko grumbled. Distracted by the fall foliage, she had collided with another woman who had just exited the drug store.

“Oh my gosh! Are you okay, Miss? Are you hurt?”

The girl’s voice made Himiko’s heart stop, tears welling up before she could even look up into the taller girl’s eyes.

“Tenko!!” she wailed, desperately wanting to cling to the other girl’s shirt but too afraid that she might disappear under her touch.

Even with her long hair tucked up inside of a wide-brim hat, Himiko could tell without a doubt that it was her, the girl she had came to love and had lost just as quickly. She didn’t know why or how, but it was her.

_Magic._

Tenko’s eyes grew wide, frozen as if she were a department store mannequin, save for the way her mouth gaped open, like one that hadn’t come correctly out of the mold.

She was more beautiful than Himiko remembered.

“Come with Tenko!” Tenko urged, suddenly aware of any potential eyes on them. Grabbing Himiko by the hand, Tenko tugged her into a nearby alley.

Not the most romantic spot for a tryst with a ghost (when Himiko had fantasized about a reunion late at night, it had been in the lobby of a grand hotel, just like in that soap opera) but Himiko would have been happy to meet with Tenko at the heart of a black hole.

Although they came to a stop, Tenko kept hold of Himiko’s hand—warm and comforting and calloused—as if afraid that Himiko were the ghost, about to evaporate into the atmosphere.

“Tenko looked for you!” Tenko stammered, eyes gleaming with their familiar earnestness, just the same as when they had last spoken in that dark, horrible room. “I mean, Tenko did at first. But then Tenko began to wonder if you might not want to see me…”

Himiko shook her head so fervently, she thought it might fly off. “I wanted to see you! But- but I saw you die! How? How…” Himiko held back a sob, aware that her cheeks were already damp.

Tenko smiled softly and Himiko felt as if her entire soul were being embraced by the very sight of it.

“Maybe it was your magic.”

Magic wasn’t real, and it didn’t matter why, nor how, what did matter was that Himiko dove into Tenko’s arms, strong and safe.

**Author's Note:**

> Maybe it was magic, or maybe Team DR just held the 'victims' in their secret facility after faking their deaths... hmm...


End file.
